Those bent on divide-and-rule may not like it, but it is a fact that
Shan movements, both armed and unarmed, are developing closer relations
following the forum in Rangoon, 26-28 November, when 18 groups of Shans
from all over Burma participated, according to sources from Shan State.

The event was “blessed” by President’s Office ministers U Aung Min
and U Soe Thein, who, along with President Thein Sein, are known as
reformists.

“The sense of harmony was further developed by the Shan New Year
Festival in Kengtung (12-14 December)”, said a Kengtung elder. “It seems
the more than 50 years of separation has brought us closer to each
other.”

The Kengtung Shan New Year celebrations, presided over by the Burma
Army’s Triangle Region commander, was taken part by more than 100,000
people from all over Shan State.
The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), led by Hkun Htun
Oo, the principal supporter of the Rangoon meeting, is reportedly
planning an all Shan State conference in order to prepare for the
nationwide political negotiations with Naypyitaw.

One result was the meeting between Hseng Keow People’s Militia Force,
formerly the Third Brigade of the Shan State Army (SSA) and the SSA
North in Wanhai, Kehsi township, on 26 December.

The Hseng Keow delegation was led by Sao Loimao and Sao Gaifa, while
the host delegation by Sao Hso Ten and Sao Pang Fa, according to sources
close to the Wanhai leadership.

The two sides had been on cool relationship with each other, after
the former had decided to accept a PMF status under the Burma Army in
2009. “The meeting in Rangoon had brought them back,” commented a source
who knows both sides.

Although details of the 26 December meeting was not disclosed, it was
likely they were discussing the upcoming conference in April, he added.

The SSA North’s sister organization, SSA South, meanwhile, has been
resuming better relations with the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a close
ally of the SSA North. The two sides’ relations were strained by the Wa
suspicion that the SSA had been working in cooperation with foreign
governments against its alleged drug activities and had led to a brief
war in 2005.

A UWSA delegation visited Loi Taileng, the SSA South’s main base
opposite Maehongson, during the Shan New Year. Its representative Sao
Lao Mong reportedly promised his hosts there would be no more war
between them.